Microsoft Health Band Plays Nicely with Strava and MapMyRide

Big tech companies are tuning in to the potential of the fitness market, and cycling in particular. Last month, Apple and Strava announced the Strava app for Apple Watch—which is launching on Friday. Today, Microsoft says that its Band activity tracker will also integrate with Strava, as well as MapMyRide.

The Band hasn’t received a ton of media fanfare since it was released in October, but it is one of the most capable wristband activity trackers available. Where many similar fitness bands have relied on a combination of accelerometer data and smartphone capabilities to track stats like distance, steps, heart rate, and calories, the Health Band features 10 built-in sensors including a 24-hour heart rate monitor, GPS tracker, gyroscope, accelerometer, sleep monitor, and even a UV sensor so you can decide whether you need to go big on the SPF before you head out on your ride. In February, the company introduced ride tracking functionality to the Band, enabling cyclists to record distance, elevation, heart rate, laps/splits, and other key ride stats.

Until now, ride data gathered by the band uploaded to Microsoft Health, the company’s cloud-based fitness tracking application for web and mobile, and certain run tracking programs. Starting April 23, riders will be able to also upload to Strava and MapMyRide via Bluetooth 4.0 connection with iPhones, Androids, or Windows-based smartphones. The data is sent to the user’s Microsoft Health account first, then automatically delivered to the third-party app; but from the user's perspective, it will appear to be directly sent to Strava or MapMyRide.

For now, data will move in one direction only—from the Band to third party apps. This offers less integration with Strava than the Apple Watch app, which provides PR notifications, ability to see segments in real time, and segment times and ranking immediately after uploading. But Matt Barlow, general manager of new device experiences marketing at Microsoft, says that Microsoft plans to expand the partnership to further capabilities.

We’ll see how the Band stacks up to Apple Watch and other wearables to come. But some of its features show promise as a solution for recreational cyclists who also do other activities, and want to monitor their all-around health and fitness metrics, too.

For one, integration with Strava and MapMyRide will allow cyclists to use the bike-specific analysis tools within these apps to see their progress over time. When it comes to the hardware itself, the two biggest advantages seem to be the built-in GPS and heart rate monitor, which don’t require you to be tethered to your iPhone like other fitness bands (the Mio Velo being one). The Band is thus not reliant on smartphone battery life, making it a good solution for longer rides.

More Band features that demonstrate interesting potential for cycling: You can download guided workouts, which could be useful for performing interval workouts on the bike without having to reference written directions on your phone or a piece of paper. Currently, there are only five bike workouts available, including a Tabata interval workout, but Barlow says that the company plans to work with cycling coaches and experts to add more. The Band also uses your heart rate data—how much time you spent in anaerobic vs aerobic heart rate zones—to calculate how much recovery time you’ll need after a ride, as well as a more accurate estimate of calories burned. You can see incoming texts and emails while you’re riding, without having to take your phone out of your jersey pocket. Finally, just a fun one for the coffee addicts out there, the Band can be scanned at any Starbucks to automatically deduct credit from your Starbucks card, so you can get your mid-ride caffeine fix even if you forget a credit card.

Integration with Strava and MapMapRide will be available starting tomorrow, April 23.

Gloria LiuContributing Writer, Bicycling & Runner’s WorldGloria Liu is a writer-at-large, and formerly the features and gear editor at Bicycling.

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